page_title: Cross-border language
section_title: Functions
hierarchical_section_title: Cross-border language / Functions
caption_attribution_description: Dialect map of Kikongo Dark yellow areas are inhabited mainly by first language speakers of the various dialects/languages of Kikongo. Names of some dialects/languages are written on the map. Pale yellow areas are inhabited by first and second language speakers of Kituba (a.k.a. Kikongo ya Leta), which is the lingua franca in the area. Kituba is understood by most speakers of Kikongo. Map drawn by Risto Kupsala. Details are based on the language maps of Ethnologue and several other sources.
context_page_description: A cross-border language or trans-border language is a language spoken by a population that lives in a geographical area in two or several internationally recognized countries that have common land or maritime borders.
context_section_description: Cross-border languages commonly have an economic role. The existence of trade between one country and another requires the use of an international and/or a cross-border language to facilitate exchange. English plays a major role in the relations between the United States and Canada, two of the most intertwined economies in the world.
  The political milieu in many countries uses international languages most of the time, but trans-border languages are often used, in an informal or an official manner. Following the resolution of the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Eritrea uses Tigrinya and Arabic as working languages. Tigrinya and Arabic are spoken on both sides of the border with Ethiopia and Sudan, respectively.
  Culture is closely bound to language. A Flemish author or director from Belgium can easily release a book or film in the Netherlands. Dutch is a cross-border language which facilitates cultural and social exchanges.
  Trans-border languages can play an intermediary role in the spread of religions. Institutions make use of cross-border languages as a propaganda tool to convert new populations. As an example, certain Christian churches evangelise populations in Africa with translations of the Bible and the help of associations such as the Summer Institute of Linguistics7. For instance, the Kimbanguist church, founded by a Congolese man converted by a Protestant missionary society, operates in the territory of the Kikongo language (18 million speakers across Angola, Gabon and the western regions of Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville). Already over a century ago, oblate missionaries in the Congo studied Kikongo in Ipamu as part of their training.
  Cross-border languages can represent a refuge. Many Basques became refugees in France during the Franco regime. Many Pashto speakers cross the Durand line to Pakistan to escape economic hardships as well as Taliban and American repression in Afghanistan. These speakers of a cross-border language are often not included in the census.
  Smuggling is very widespread among cross-border linguistic minorities who can find a livelihood in it. Mohawk is used by indigenous people in Quebec or Ontario who can cross the American border with no problems, as their reservation straddles the Canada–United States border.
  Linguistic assimilation by trans-border languages, most often those which are asymmetrical and considered important by the rest of the population of the country, continues at the detriment of less prestigious languages. At the beginning of the 20ᵗʰ century, Brussels underwent a rather significant reduction in use of Dutch in favour of French, given the international status of the latter.
caption: Geographic distribution of the Kongo and Kituba languages
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